All posts by Neil Fordyce

Sharkey circles The Square with New Town hotel project

The £9m project will see Category A listed Buchan House, which dates back to 1775, transformed into a 72-bedroom hotel with a fitness studio, restaurant and “speakeasy bar”.  The building’s original features will be restored and incorporated into what the developers have described as a “fascinating, memorable and truly unique hotel”.

For Sharkey, the project [alongside developer S Harrison Developments Ltd] adds to a portfolio of over £60m worth of hotel projects to date and over 1,000 bedrooms in total for a range of 4 and 5 star brands.  The expertise of Sharkey’s Hotel and Leisure unit in design, build, re-fit and refurbishing has seen the team work alongside some of the world’s premier hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels Group, Kohler Co. and Malmaison.

Sharkey goes the extra Quarter-mile

Viewed by commentators as Scotland’s best example of 21st century work/living environments, the Quartermile development is one of the country’s most comprehensive regeneration projects and sits on a conservation site that once housed the historic Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Cat-B fit-outs of all 7 floors at Quartermile 4 for global tech giant Cirrus Logic and one of Canada’s largest banks, Bank of Montreal and its BMO Global Asset Management division, delivered close to 130,000sqft and has produced some of most innovative and flexible working environments to be found anywhere in the UK.

Cirrus Logic saw a fast-track fit-out of six levels at Quartermile 4 to create open-plan office space to house over 400 workstations, 42 offices, meeting rooms, a gym, restaurant and a highly-serviced laboratory space accommodating a sophisticated array of microelectronic test equipment to develop new hardware.

For BMO Global, who manage almost £200 billion of assets worldwide, the fit-out was undertaken in an almost fully occupied building and saw the creation of office space in keeping with the global financial institution’s high quality workplace standards. With space for over one hundred BMO staff and capacity for growth, the ‘penthouse’ 6th level floor offers stunning views over the city.

 

Sharkey above par at Home of Golf

The world-renowned hotel, one of the gems in Kohler’s portfolio, sits immediately alongside the Old Course in St Andrews – the Home of Golf.  The project saw the refurbishment of 144 bedrooms, together with extensive fabric upgrade works in Phase 1 and the construction of a new leisure facility complete with 25-metre swimming pool in Phase 2, which also included an upgrade of the existing spa.

The highly collaborative relationship Sharkey built with Kohler and their representatives was a key factor in the success of the overall project.  The positive way this relationship developed from pre-construction to completion served to justify the confidence Kohler placed in Sharkey to meet a series of demanding objectives – including an aggressive timetable carried out during winter on a site fully exposed to the North Sea.

The £14 million project was perhaps most satisfying in terms of the feedback from Kohler who described our team as having “always led with excellent planning, professionalism, and ultimately execution, all the while making this a truly fun, pleasurable experience.”  At Sharkey, we greatly look forward to working with the Kohler team again in the near future.

Sharkey delivering for global investment bank Morgan Stanley

The fifth largest of Morgan Stanley’s offices worldwide, at 122 Waterloo Street, the project involves the fit-out of 155,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over 9 floors to house more than 1200 people in a predominantly open plan environment.

Secured following competitive tender, during which Sharkey’s previous experience in high value fast-track commercial office fit-outs was a key differentiator, the 16-week programme also involves a ground floor gym and a first floor kitchen and restaurant.  The project will provide a cutting-edge 21st century workplace at its best.

Silver screen to room with a view

With views over to Edinburgh Castle, the £2 million conversion of 132 Princes Street saw the vacant upper storeys of the B-listed building, which had previously been original townhouses, transformed into 16,000 square feet of office space for developer Hazledene House.

Major structural alterations included the formation of an extensive rear extension comprising a glass box and staircase and a “de-furbished” look throughout featuring exposed stonework and beams. Sharkey worked closely with UK architects 3DReid over the course of the 20-week project and regularly consulted with Historic Scotland to ensure that key original features were sympathetically restored. 132 Princes Street is selected for the Architectural Excellence (Commercial Use) category at the Scottish Property Awards 2018.

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